I couldn’t agree more. One of my pet abominations is code like this:

if ($i != $j)
{
    # not equal
}
else
{
    # not not equal -- huh?
}

[download]

which can so easily be recast as:

if ($i == $j)
{
    # equal
}
else
{
    # not equal
}

[download]

So, let’s propose a general style guideline:

Thou shalt not code in double negatives.

For an amusing commentary on this theme, see Re^2: Can't remove directory-Permission denied (knot).

And for the one legitimate exception to the rule (that I can think of offhand), see Secret Perl Operators: the boolean list squash operator, x!!.

Athanasius <°(((>< contra mundum

In reply to Re^3: inheritance: constructors by Athanasius
in thread inheritance: constructors by Basilides

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